Device for fastening emergency equipment to a ship&#39;s deck

ABSTRACT

A device is for fastening emergency equipment to a ship&#39;s deck or to a structure on a ship&#39;s deck. The device includes a first and a second fastening facility for, respectively, a first external and a second external fastening device having, respectively, a first and a second tensile strength. The device further includes a third fastening facility for a third external fastening device having a third tensile strength. When the device is in operation, the second and the third fastening facility are mutually connected both by a connecting device incorporated in the device and by the first external fastening device. The connecting device incorporated in the device absorbs load between the second and the third fastening facility if the first external fastening device stops working.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a device for fastening emergencyequipment, such as, for example, a life raft, to a ship's deck or to astructure on a ship's deck. The invention results in an increased lifespan for such devices, and a more rational production than with previousdevices.

PRIOR ART

Various types of devices for fixing emergency equipment, for examplelife rafts, life buoys, radio transmitters, etc. to a ship's deck or apurpose-built structure on a ship's deck are previously known. Thedevices are often provided with some type of mechanism which releasesthe devices from the ship's deck if certain specific criteria are metwhich indicate the need to release the equipment, for example if theship is about to sink or has met with some other kind of accident.

These previously known appliances have a number of deficiencies, forexample they are difficult and hence expensive to make, since theirproduction requires a large number of working moments.

Another drawback with known appliances is that they often comprise anumber of rope eyelets, shackles and similar fastening devices, whichmust be connected to different places on the deck or structure, whichcan lead to faulty connections due to handling errors and resultingmalfunction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is therefore to offer a device forfastening emergency equipment to a ship's deck or to a structure on aship's deck, which device is simpler and hence cheaper to produce thanknown previous appliances. At the same time, an object of the presentinvention is to achieve a longer life than the life of previously knowndevices. Furthermore, the device according to the invention should notbe prone to ageing phenomena to the same extent as previously knownappliances, and should have a minimal scope for misconnection due tohandling errors.

The aforementioned objects are achieved according to the presentinvention by means of a device for fastening emergency equipment to aship's deck or to a structure on a ship's deck, comprising a first and asecond fastening facility for external fastening means, which devicefurther comprises a third fastening facility for external fasteningmeans. The first and second fastening facilities are constituted by atleast one opening in the device, with the device further comprising aconnecting means which extends around said first and second fasteningfacilities, thereby also extending around fastening means which utilisesaid first and second facilities. Examples of emergency equipment foruse with the device according to the invention are life rafts, lifebuoys, radio transmitters,

Suitably, but not necessarily, the third fastening facility isconstituted by a groove in the device, which groove extends around atleast part of said first and second fastening facilities.

In addition, it is also suitable to let the first and the secondfastening facilities be constituted by a first and a second openingrespectively in the device, said openings being separate from oneanother in the device.

In one particular embodiment, said connecting means are constituted by aloop of a material extending around the second and the third fasteningfacility.

Also, said loop can preferably be integrated internally in the device.

In addition, the device may further comprise a sleeve, said sleevecomprising an opening, with the sleeve being attached to the device inoperation in such a manner that the opening in the sleeve at least inpart coincides with the first fastening facility. The sleeve is suitablyarranged to be attached to the device by means of snap-attaching.

Because of this configuration, the device, in a manner to be explainedin greater detail below, can be shaped to meet the demands placed uponit.

For example, the device becomes simple to make as the third fasteningfacility is constituted by a groove in the device.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

The invention will be described in detail below with reference to theappended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows the device according to the invention in dismantled state,with a part in sectional view, and

FIG. 2 shows the device from FIG. 1, in an assembled state, and

FIG. 3 shows the device as it will appear in operation, and

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a step in the assembly of a device according to theinvention.

EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an example of an embodiment of a device 100 according tothe present invention. The invention is primarily intended to be usedfor fastening emergency equipment such as for example life rafts, lifebuoys, radio transmitters, etc to a ship's deck or to a purpose-builtstructure on a ship's deck.

In the illustrated embodiment, the device 100 comprises a so-calledshearing link 110, which, in the example is realised as a continuouslink having a first 120 and a second opening 130, the workings of whichwill be seen in greater detail below, said two openings being separatedfrom each other by a “cross-bar” in the device 100, thus giving thedevice a faint resemblance to the numeral “8”.

The first and second openings serve as a first respectively a secondfastening facility for external fastening means, in a manner which willbe explained in greater detail below. As will be realized from thefollowing explanation, the design of the first and seconds fasteningfacilities in the device 100 as two separate openings in the device isnot necessary, the two fastening facilities can also, for example, bedesigned as one continuous opening ion the device 100.

The shearing link 110 further comprises a means 140 for connecting thetwo openings or fastening facilities 120, 130 in the device 100. In theexample, this connecting means 140 is realised as a stainless steelwire, which is closed with a lock 150, in the example a so-calledpressed talurite lock. The connecting means 140 extends around thesecond 120 and third 130 fastening facility, i.e. the two openings inthe shearing link, and will thus also extend around and connect anyfastening means which are fastened to the fastening facilities 120, 130.

The important aspect of the invention is not, however, the exactimplementation of the connecting means, but an important aspect is thatthe connecting means can be given a well defined strength, for reasonswhich will be set out in greater detail below.

One example of how the shearing link can be made is for it to berealised as an injection-moulded plastics part, having the connectingmeans or openings 120 130 moulded into the plastic, together with thecross-bar which separates them from each other. This is only oneexample, however; the shearing link can, of course, be realised in alarge number of other ways, the important aspect is that the workingwhich is described here is maintained.

The device of the invention, still depicted as a shearing link 110further comprises a third fastening facility 180 for external fasteningmeans, said third fastening facility suitably being in the form of agroove 180, which runs around the whole or parts of the circumference ofthe device or shearing link 110, on its outside, and at least in partencloses or extends around the two openings 120, 130. The purpose of thethird fastening means 180, i.e. the groove, will also be seen in greaterdetail below.

The device according to the invention can also comprise a casing or asleeve 160. This sleeve 160 comprises an opening 120′ and, in aconceivable configuration, can be seen as two plates, which each have athrough-hole in the middle and which are held together by two walls,each extending between opposite outer edges of the plates. The casingwill then, in addition to the opening 120′, also have a through-openingin the direction defined by the arrow A in FIG. 1.

The sleeve or casing 160 is designed to be slipped onto the device or inthis embodiment shearing link so that the sleeve constitutes protectionfor at least that part of the shearing link which comprises the oneopening 120, the sleeve being held in place on the device by means ofsnap-fastening, for example. The fact that protection for part of thedevice is constituted by the sleeve 160, which is a separate part,offers a number of advantages, the sleeve can for example be replacedmore easily than an integrated part, where necessary, if it is worn.Another advantage is that one and the same shearing link constructioncan be used for different applications, in which the sleeve can be thepart which is modified according to the needs of the particularapplication, for example in terms of strength, colour, etc. Thepossibility of configuring the protection as a sleeve which can be givenshape and colour as required means that the construction can be modifiedaccording to different requirements in different applications withdifferent colour coding.

When attached to the device 100, the opening 120′ of the sleeve will,due to the design, at least in part coincide with the first fasteningfacility 120, this enabling that fastening facility to be used asintended.

FIG. 2 shows a device 100 according to the invention in assembled state,in other words with the sleeve 160 slipped onto the main part of theinvention, i.e. the shearing link 110. As can be seen from FIG. 2, theopening 120′ in the casing 160 coincides at least in part with one ofthe fastening facilities 120, 130 in the shearing link, so that theassembled device 100 can be given a total of two such facilities, inwhich the one facility is defined by the opening in the casing 120′coinciding at least partly with one other opening 120 in the shearinglink.

The fastening facility in the device 100 which is defined by the opening120′ in the casing 160, because of the facility to give the casing acolour different from the shearing link, will be easily identifiable bya user, which means that the chance of mistaking the two fasteningfacilities during use of the device 100 is diminished, which, in turn,reduces the risk of the-device being wrongly coupled.

Of course, the number of fastening facilities in the shearing link 110and the sleeve 160 is only an example, it is understood that a deviceaccording to the invention can be configured with a largely arbitrarynumber of such facilities, which can be divided, in principlearbitrarily, between fastening facilities 120 in the shearing link whichare enclosed by the sleeve and coincide with the openings 120′ of thesleeve, and the fastening facilities 130 in the shearing link which arenot enclosed by the sleeve.

As stated above, the sleeve 160 has “walls”, which, when the sleeve isslipped onto the shearing link, will form a protective wall and guidancefor fastening means 170, for example in the form of a rope, which areplaced in the third fastening facility or groove 180, as will be seen ingreater detail below.

FIG. 3 shows the device 100 in operation. A first and a second externalpoint, in the form of a shackle 145 and a so-called thimble 165, aremutually connected by means of the device 100 as follows: the shackle145 is connected to the device 100 via the second fastening facility,the opening 130, and the thimble 165 is connected to the device 100 viaa rope end 170 which passes into the groove 180, within the walls of thesleeve 160.

The shackle can be used for connection to a ship's deck (not shown) or astructure in a ship's deck for fixing of emergency equipment, forexample a life raft, and the thimble can used for connection to a lineor a shackle which passes around the life raft and is connected toanother point in the ship's deck. A life raft can thus be fixed to aship's deck, for example, by means of the device and respectively afirst 170 and a second 145 external fastening means which utilize thefirst and second fastening facilities (i.e. the openings in thisembodiment) of the device, respectively.

The rope end 170 connecting the thimble 165 to the device extends in theabove-described groove 180 in the device, passes around the thimble 165and additionally passes around at least a part of the -shearing linkwhich encloses the second fastening facility 130 in the device. The ropeend can additionally run through a device 190 for releasing the liferaft, in the illustrated example a hydrostat with a built-in knife whichcuts off the rope end at a certain predefined pressure. The working ofthe device 190 is not of primary interest for the invention, and willthus not be described in further detail here.

Via the first fastening facility 120 in the device 100, a third externalfastening means 125, in the form of a further shackle, is additionallyfixed. Expediently, this shackle 125, in addition to its connection tothe device 100, is fastened in a so-called “painter line”, a releaseline, the working of which is familiar to the person skilled in the artand which will therefore not be described in greater detail here. This“painter line” is usually fastened with slack, so that it does notabsorb any force when the device is operating, if the rope end 170 isunder strain.

As described above in connection with FIG. 1, the device comprises aconnecting means, in an advantageous embodiment in the form of a wire140, which extends around the two fastening facilities 120, 130 so thatthe two shackles 125, 145 will be mutually connected by this secondconnecting means 140. Since the strain in the fixing of the life raftvia the device 100 will normally be absorbed by the rope end 170, theconnecting means, the wire 140 will not be strained during operation.

In order to facilitate understanding of the application for a device 100according to the invention, a possible process with a life raft will bedescribed:

The life raft is fixed in the ship's deck by means of a device accordingto the invention, in the manner depicted in FIG. 3. If the ship sinks,the hydrostat 190 will be activated at a certain predefined depth,whereupon the built-in knife cuts off the rope end 170. The connectionbetween the ship's deck and the life raft breaks and the life raftbegins to float to the surface. However, the life raft is still fixed inthe “painter line”, via the shackle 145 and the shackle 125, which arestill fixed together by means of the wire 140. At a certain predefineddepth, the “painter line” will also be stretched, whereupon the shackles125, 145 begin straining the wire 140, whereby the life raft is openedand inflated. The wire 140 will break once its tensile strength has beenexceeded. Expediently, the wire has a tensile strength which is lessthan that of the rope end 170, but this can, of course, be varied withinthe scope of the invention, depending on the particular application.

FIG. 4 shows how a device according to the invention can be puttogether: the rope end 170 has been slipped around a part of theshearing link 110, in its groove 180. The rope end has further beenslipped into the casing 160, within the aforementioned walls of thecasing. Expediently, the rope end is knotted and is arranged next to anexternal device, such as the hydrostat, before the rope end is placed inthe device 100, but can also be knotted subsequently.

Once the rope end has been placed in this way around the groove 180 inthe device, the device can then be assembled in the manner previouslydescribed, namely by the casing 160 being put together with the shearinglink 110 by the casing being slipped onto the shearing link and secured,for example, by snap-fastening.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but canbe freely modified within the scope of the following patent claims. Oneparameter which, for example, might be modified within the scope of theinvention is the tensile strength of the wire in the shearing link, andhence the relationship between the strengths in the shearing link andthe rope end employed in the use of the device.

1. A device for fastening emergency equipment to at least one of aship's deck and a structure on a ship's deck, comprising: a shearinglink including a first fastening facility and a second fasteningfacility for second and third external fasteners; a third fasteningfacility for a first external fastener, wherein the first and the secondfastening facilities are constituted by at least one opening in theshearing link; and a connector, extending around said first and saidsecond fastening facilities, said connector thereby also mutuallyconnecting said second and said third external fasteners which utilizesaid first and said second fastening facilities, wherein the connectoris arranged with a tensile strength that allows breaking of theconnector once its tensile strength has been exceeded by strain causedby the second and third external fasteners in the absence of the firstexternal fastener; and a sleeve, said sleeve comprising an opening, withthe sleeve being attached to the device in operation in such a mannerthat the opening in the sleeve at least in part coincides with the firstfastening facility, wherein the sleeve is arranged to be attached to thedevice via snap-attaching.
 2. The device according to claim 1, whereinthe first and the second fastening facilities are constituted by a firstopening and a second opening respectively in the device, said openingsbeing separate from one another in the device.
 3. The device accordingto claim 2, wherein said connector includes a loop of a materialextending around the second and the third fastening facilities.
 4. Thedevice according to claim 1, wherein said connector includes a loop of amaterial extending around the second and the third fastening facilities.5. The device of claim 4, wherein said loop is integrated internally inthe device.
 6. The device of claim 3, wherein said loop is integratedinternally in the device.
 7. The device of claim 4, wherein the loop ofmaterial is a wire.
 8. The device of claim 1, in which the thirdfastening facility is constituted by a groove in the device, the grooveextending around at least part of the first and the second fasteningfacilities.
 9. The device according to claim 1, wherein the firstexternal fastener is placed in the third fastening facility.
 10. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the strain in the fixing of the emergencyequipment via the device is absorbed by the first external fastener,wherein the connector will not be strained during the operation.
 11. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the first external fastener is a rope end.12. A device for fastening emergency equipment to at least one of aship's deck and a structure on a ship's deck, comprising: a shearinglink including a first fastening facility and a second fasteningfacility for second and third external means for fastening; a thirdfastening facility for first external means for fastening, wherein thefirst and the second fastening facilities are constituted by at leastone opening in the device; and connecting means, extending around saidfirst and said second fastening facilities, for mutually connecting saidsecond and said third external means for fastening which utilize saidfirst and said second fastening facilities, wherein the connecting meansis arranged with a tensile strength that allows breaking of theconnecting means once its tensile strength has been exceeded by straincaused by the second and the third external means for fastening in theabsence of the first external means for fastening; and a sleeve, saidsleeve comprising an opening, with the sleeve being attached to thedevice in operation in such a manner that the opening in the sleeve atleast in part coincides with the first fastening facility, wherein thesleeve is arranged to be attached to the device via snap-attaching. 13.The device according to claim 12, wherein the first and the secondfastening facilities are constituted by a first and a second openingrespectively in the device, said openings being separate from oneanother in the device.
 14. The device according to claim 12, whereinsaid connecting means includes a loop of a material extending around thesecond and the third fastening facility.
 15. The device of claim 14,wherein said loop is integrated internally in the device.
 16. A devicefor fastening emergency equipment to at least one of a ship's deck and astructure on a ship's deck, comprising: a shearing link including afirst fastening facility and a second fastening facility for second andthird external fasteners; a third fastening facility for a firstexternal fastener, wherein the first and the second fastening facilitiesare constituted by at least one opening in the shearing link; and aconnector, extending around said first and said second fasteningfacilities, said connector thereby also mutually connecting said secondand said third external fasteners which utilize said first and saidsecond fastening facilities, wherein the connector is arranged with atensile strength that allows breaking of the connector once its tensilestrength has been exceeded by strain caused by the second and thirdexternal fasteners in the absence of the external fastener, wherein thefirst external fastener is placed in the third fastening facility andwherein the device comprises a cutting device arranged to cut off thefirst external fastener.
 17. The device according to claim 16, whereinthe cutting device is comprised in a hydrostat arranged to be activatedat a certain predefined depth.
 18. A device for fastening emergencyequipment to at least one of a ship's deck and a structure on a ship'sdeck, comprising: a shearing link including a first fastening facilityand a second fastening facility for second and third external fasteners;a third fastening facility for a first external fastener, wherein thefirst and the second fastening facilities are constituted by at leastone opening in the shearing link; and a connector, extending around saidfirst and said second fastening facilities, said connector thereby alsomutually connecting said second and said third external fasteners whichutilize said first and said second fastening facilities, wherein theconnector is arranged with a tensile strength that allows breaking ofthe connector once its tensile strength has been exceeded by straincaused by the second and third external fasteners in the absence of theexternal fastener, wherein the first external fastener is a rope end andwherein the connector has a tensile strength which is less than that ofthe rope end.